Little Rock School Dist. v. Pulaski Special School Dist. No. 1, 84-1686
| Decision Date | 06 July 1984 |
| Docket Number | No. 84-1686,84-1686 |
| Citation | 738 F.2d 82 |
| Parties | 116 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 3243, 75 A.L.R.Fed. 225, 39 Fed.R.Serv.2d 834, 18 Ed. Law Rep. 587 LITTLE ROCK SCHOOL DISTRICT, Appellee, v. PULASKI COUNTY SPECIAL SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 1, et al., Appellees, and Katherine Knight, individually and as President of the Little Rock Classroom Teachers Association, et al., Appellants. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit |
Richard W. Roachell, Cearley, Mitchell & Roachell, Little Rock, Ark., Robert H. Chanin, Gary L. Sasso, Bredhoff & Kaiser, Washington, D.C., for appellants.
Phil Neal, Friedman & Koven, Chicago, Ill., Alston Jennings, Wright, Lindsey & Jennings, Little Rock, Ark., for appellees.
Philip E. Kaplan, Kaplan, Brewer & Miller, P.A., John M. Bilheimer, Janet L. Pulliam, Heller, Walker & Torrence, Little Rock, Ark., for appellee Little Rock School Dist.
House, Wallace & Jewell, P.A., Little Rock, Ark., Philip K. Lyon, Larry C. Wallace, Stephen W. Jones, Joseph H. Purvis, Edward G. Adcock, North Little Rock, Ark., for appellee, North Little Rock School Dist.
Before ROSS, ARNOLD and JOHN R. GIBSON, Circuit Judges.
The Little Rock Classroom Teachers Association, The Pulaski Association of Classroom Teachers, The North Little Rock Classroom Teachers Association, and the Presidents of these organizations appeal from the District Court's denial of their motion for leave to intervene in the remedy phase of this case. A few words on the history of the lawsuit are appropriate to place the present issue in context.
This case was brought by the Little Rock School District against a number of defendants, including the two other school districts operating in Pulaski County, Arkansas, the Pulaski County Special School District No. 1 and the North Little Rock School District. In brief, the plaintiff contends that schools in Pulaski County, Arkansas, are not completely desegregated, and that the defendant school districts are partially responsible for this condition. The principal request made in the complaint is that the three school districts be combined into one. The District Court has held that the defendants are liable for a presently unconstitutional condition in the schools of Pulaski County. It has set July 30, 1984, as the date for a hearing at which all parties will be allowed to present evidence on the appropriate remedy for this condition. Appellants seek to participate in this hearing.
The appellant teachers' organizations represent the classroom teachers employed by the three school districts. Although school districts in Arkansas are not compelled by state law to bargain collectively with representatives of their employees, each of the districts in Pulaski County has agreed to recognize one of the appellant organizations as the representative of its teachers. Bargaining has taken place, and there are presently in existence contracts governing, in part, the salaries, hours, and terms and conditions of employment of the teachers in the respective school districts.
Appellants first began their efforts to intervene on August 18, 1983. Their motion, filed on that day, was denied by the District Court on September 29, 1983. An appeal was taken to this Court. On December 29, 1983, we affirmed. We said:
This action is without prejudice to the right of appellants to renew their motion if and when the District Court determines that defendants are liable. The District Court has indicated that it intends informally to bifurcate the proceedings into a liability stage, and, if necessary, a remedy stage. The interests that appellants seek to protect relate to the remedy stage. If the District Court decides that there is liability, it should then consider whether to permit appellants to participate in the remedy stage of the case.
Thereafter, on April 13, 1984, the District Court filed its opinion holding defendants liable for the allegedly unconstitutional condition. Little Rock School District v. Puloski County Special School District No. 1, 584 F.Supp. 328 (E.D. Ark. 1984). Eleven days later, on April 24, 1984, appellants renewed their motion for leave to intervene, claiming entitlement to intervention as of right under Fed.R.Civ.P. 24(a)(2). The next day, April 25, 1984, the District Court denied the renewed motion. It said:
The applicants for intervention do not possess interests in this action that will be impaired by the formulation or adoption of attendance zones for [a] consolidated school district.... Their rights will ultimately be the subject of bargaining between their representatives and the consolidated school district. The Court's remedial hearing ... will not impair the ability of the teachers to negotiate in the future. Their motion to intervene is denied.
This appeal followed. Three other parties have filed briefs: the plaintiff Little Rock School District, the defendant North Little...
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